Possibility of observing "Centauro" events at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider

A phenomenological model for the production of "Centauro"-type cosmic-ray events is developed, assuming a nucleus-nucleus interaction in the upper atmosphere. The model is used to estimate, in a self-consistent way, several thermodynamic and kinematical quantities, characterizing the observed Centauro events. On the basis of this model, we describe a typical "Centauro" event, possibly produced in the fragmentation rapidity of an $A+A$ central collision at $\sqrt{s}=200A$ GeV at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. We suggest several characteristic signatures for these events, as well as the possibility of observing "strangelets."